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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Don't Make These 5 Bench Press Mistakes

Bench press pro, author, and coach Mike Westerdal has a new program out, theBench Press Explosion. It is he goes into many different bench errors, what to do about them and over 18 different bench specific programs. Today he was kind enough to share with me what he found to be the tops bench press mistakes people make.

Don't let these mistakes stop you from benching more.

Big Bench Mistake 1: Lack of Goals
I am sure you have hear of the analogy about taking a road trip without a map. Well the same applies to the bench. You need to know where you are going and a plan to get there. Goals need to be difficult, but realistic, measurable and specific. Be accountable. Tell people what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. Remind yourself of your goals daily.

"A goal without a deadline is just a dream"

Big Bench Mistake 2: Self Doubt
You simply can't be afraid to lift big weight. So screw your head on straight and get after it. Get rid of all that self doubt and negativity. Never start a set by saying you’re going to “Try” or you “Hope” you’re going to get this rep. Try isn't a word that even belongs in your vocabulary. Eliminate it. In the words of Yoda, "do or do not ." Your sub-conscious mind listens to you so program it with positive encouraging visions rather than self destructing criticism.

If you’re not confident, fake it. You have to picture yourself as a great bencher before
you can become one.

Big Bench Mistake 3: Rep Ranges
High reps are for mass building, not to get you stronger in the bench press. Triples build power!
If you’ve never done triples start with fives and work your way down over a few weeks.

Big Bench Mistake 4: Pre-fatiguing Your Muscles
Don’t do shoulders or triceps before a bench workout. You’re exhausting the primary
movers you are going to need to bench.
Don’t do cardio before a heavy bench workout and don’t deplete all your energy by doing way too many warm up sets. Save your energy for the max effort or heavy sets!

Big Bench Mistake 5: Overtraining
Let your CNS and your muscles recover and strengthen before hitting the bench again.
Once a week is enough when training the bench unless you want to add in a second day
for speed or explosive training.

Wow when you’re training for strength and size it can be a gamble, where you’re hoping you’re doing the right exercises, training often enough, doing the right number of reps and sets not to mention the rest periods.

If you’d like to take the guesswork out of the program design aspect check this out.